The Dutch government is building its own NixOS-based computing platform to stop relying on U.S. software it no longer trusts to stay available.
The project, called DAWO (Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid), started after U.S. sanctions on the International Criminal Court cut off the ICC's chief prosecutor from Microsoft services, including email. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is overseeing the effort, with three service providers, SSC-ICT, DICTU, and DUO-ICT, building the new stack. It covers operating systems, office software, and cloud services, replacing pieces that previously ran on Microsoft. Eight municipalities are already running trial programs, and a first stable release is expected by the end of 2027.
NixOS was picked for its Nix package manager, which installs software in isolated, immutable, signed directories that can be reproduced almost exactly across machines - reportedly up to 90% of a configuration can carry over between deployments. That matters for a government trying to standardize IT across dozens of agencies without redoing the rollout each time. It also runs on older hardware that Windows 11 rejects, which softens the cost of ditching Microsoft.
The Netherlands joins Germany, Denmark, and France in walking away from U.S.-based software stacks, though a 2027 target release means this is a multi-year bet, not a quick swap.